Apple unveils iPad Mini tablet at $329

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple Inc.'s pencil-thin, smaller iPad will cost much more than its competitors, signaling the company isn't going to get into a mini-tablet price war.

The company debuted the iPad Mini Tuesday, with a screen two-thirds the size of the full-size model's and half the weight. Customers can begin ordering the new model on Friday. In a surprise, Apple also revamped its flagship, full-sized iPad just six months after the launch of the latest model.

Apple's iPad Mini enters a growing small-tablet market dominated by Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire.

Apple is charging $329 and up for the Mini -- a price that fits into the Apple product lineup between the latest iPod Touch ($299) and the iPad 2 ($399). Company watchers had been expecting Apple to price the iPad Mini between $250 to $300 to compete with the Kindle Fire, which starts at $159. Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook HD and Google Inc.'s Nexus 7 both start at $199.

"Apple had an opportunity to step on the throat of Amazon and Google yet decided to rely on its brand and focus on margin," said Bill Kreher, an analyst with brokerage Edward Jones.

Apple has sold more than 100 million iPads since April 2010. Analysts expect Apple to sell 5 million to 10 million iPad minis before the year is out.

Apple shares fell $20.67, or 3.3 percent, to $613.36 when the price was announced. Shares of Barnes & Noble Inc. jumped 88 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $15.32. Shares of Amazon.com Inc. rose 53 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $234.31.

Wi-Fi-only models of the iPad Mini will ship on Nov. 2, said Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller. Later, the company will add models capable of accessing "LTE" wireless data networks.

The screen of the iPad Mini is 7.9 inches on the diagonal, making it larger than the 7-inch screens of the competitors. It also sports two cameras, on the front and on the back, which the competitors don't.

The iPad mini is as thin as a pencil and weighs 0.68 pounds, half as much as the full-size iPad with its 9.7-inch screen, Schiller said.

Apple also said it's upgrading its full-size iPad, doubling the speed of the processor, and introduced a 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop with a "Retina" display sporting four times the resolution of the older model.